Samuel Marsden Collegiate School

Last updated

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Address
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Marsden Avenue, Karori, Wellington
Coordinates 41°16′59″S174°44′38″E / 41.2831°S 174.7440°E / -41.2831; 174.7440
Information
TypePrivate composite girls school, years 1-13
Motto Latin: Ad Summa
(Aim For the Highest)
Established1878;145 years ago (1878)
Ministry of Education Institution no. 280
PrincipalPaula Wells
School roll430 [1]
Socio-economic decile10
Website marsden.school.nz

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is a private composite girls school located in the Wellington suburb of Karori in New Zealand. It has a socio-economic decile of 10 - on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 reflecting the lowest socioeconomic communities - and provides year one to 13 education for girls, with a co-educational pre-school. Its exam results rank consistently in the top schools in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden Collegiate School students complete the New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). [2]

Contents

History

The school is named after the Anglican Missionary Samuel Marsden. It was established in 1878 by Mrs Mary Ann Swainson as a day and boarding school for girls from Wellington and the surrounding areas. The school was originally known as the Fitzherbert Terrace School, and Esther Mary Baber was for many years the headmistress. [3] In 1920, the school was bought by the Anglican Diocese of Wellington, and moved to Karori in 1926. [4] Samuel Marsden Collegiate has had 11 principals, only one of whom, Rev. Gerald Clark, has been male.

Present day

In January 2022 Paula Wells became Samuel Marsden Collegiate School's 13th Principal taking over from Narelle Umbers who returned to Melbourne after 4 years in the role. Previously the school was led by Jenny Williams until 2017 and before that Gillian Eadie, who retired in 2008.

Marsden, as the school is often called, currently has around 500 students. In 2006 it was split from 3 to 4 'schools', the Marsden Primary (previously known as the Lower School), Middle School, Upper School and Senior School. Marsden now has five schools: Preschool, Marsden Primary, Middle School, Upper School and Senior School. In practice the latter three schools are treated as one, often just referred to as the 'upper school'.

The upper school consists of six houses: Swainson-Riddiford, Baber, Hadfield-Beere, Richmond, Jellicoe and Johnson, all named after friends and benefactors of the school. Girls are placed in houses arbitrarily except when closely related to an old girl, in which case they are placed in the same house as their relative. The Lower School (Marsden Primary) has three separate houses, Sprott, Innes and Fitzherbert, again reflecting the school's history.

The school was an early adopter of technology and won the New Zealand Computer Institutes Award for Excellence in the use of IT in Schools: Secondary and Primary in 2000.

Marsden Whitby

Established as Whitby Independent College in January 2004, on the site of the old Duck Creek Golf Course, the school was subsequently bought by Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in 2005 and renamed Marsden Whitby. Marsden Whitby's houses bear no relation to the long history of the Karori school. Instead carrying the nautical theme that the suburb of Whitby is known for - Endeavour, Resolution, Discovery and Adventure. Marsden Whitby also differed from the older school because it was the only independent co-educational high school in the Wellington region.

On 1 July 2019 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Trust Board announced it had made the decision to close Marsden School Whitby at the end of the 2019 school year. [5]

On 9 August 2019 Fiso Group Ltd announced plans to acquire the school and rename it Whitby Collegiate with plans to start operating formally from the start of the school year in 2020. The sale of Marsden Whitby to Fiso Investment Group Ltd was finalised on 10 December 2019. [5]

Notable alumnae

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whangārei</span> City in Northland, New Zealand

Whangārei is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and Hikurangi Town councils, to administer both the city proper and its hinterland. The city population was estimated to be 56,900 in June 2023, an increase from 47,000 in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitby, New Zealand</span> Suburb of Porirua

Whitby, a large suburb of Porirua City, New Zealand, located along much of the southern shore of the Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbour was comprehensively planned in the 1960s and it has been continuously developed since, with current landscaping and expansion in the hills behind the eastern part of Whitby to facilitate the future growth of the suburb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karori</span> Suburb of Wellington City, New Zealand

Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of 15,380 in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Kedgley</span> New Zealand politician

Susan Jane Kedgley is a New Zealand politician, food campaigner and author. Before entering politics Kedgley worked for the United Nations in New York for 8 years and for a decade as a television reporter, director and producer in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa</span> 7th prime minister of Samoa

AfiogaFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess (matai) who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II</span> 1st Prime Minister of Western Samoa

Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II was a Western Samoan paramount chief and politician. The holder of the Mataʻafa title, one of the four main Samoan chieftainships, he became the first prime minister of Western Samoa in 1959, serving until 1970. He held the position again from 1973 until his death in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laulu Fetauimalemau Mataʻafa</span> Samoan politician and diplomat

Masiofo La'ulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa, also known as Fetaui Mata'afa, was a Samoan politician, chieftain and diplomat who served as a member of parliament for Lotofaga from 1975 to 1976, and again from 1979 to 1982. Mata'afa was later Samoa’s first high commissioner to New Zealand. She was also the wife of Samoa's first Prime Minister, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II. Their daughter, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, is a matai high chieftess and former Cabinet Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister and current Prime Minister of Samoa. The honorific title "Masiofo" is the queenly title for the wife of a paramount chief in Samoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Moody</span> New Zealand commercial artist, advertising manager, welfare worker, sculptor and potter (1907–1991)

Muriel Carrick Moody was a New Zealand commercial artist, welfare worker, sculptor and potter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noeline Baker</span>

Isabel Noeline Baker, known as Noeline Baker, was a New Zealand suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener and peace educator.

Esther Mary Baber was a New Zealand headmistress. She was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21 March 1871. She ran the Fitzherbert Terrace School for many years, which later became the Samuel Marsden Collegiate School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronwen Holdsworth</span> New Zealand businesswoman and arts patron

Dame Bronwen Scott Holdsworth is a New Zealand businesswoman and arts patron from Gisborne, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemma New</span> Musical artist

Gemma New is a New Zealand-born conductor. She is currently music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Anne Gertrude Gambrill is a retired New Zealand lawyer and judge. She was the first woman to sit on the High Court bench in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget Reweti</span> New Zealand contemporary artist, photographer, curator, editor and writer

Bridget Reweti is a New Zealand photographer and moving image artist of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Reweti is a member of the artist group Mata Aho Collective.

Noeline Elizabeth Alcorn is a New Zealand education-research academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Waikato.

Diana Manby Mason was a prominent New Zealand medical doctor and obstetrician also active in the anti-abortion movement during the 1970s.

Helen Joan Kedgley is a retired New Zealand art curator and gallery director, who remains active in arts governance. She is the twin sister of New Zealand politician Sue Kedgley and wife of retired diplomat and broadcaster Chris Laidlaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Chapman</span> New Zealand journalist, sportsperson

Madeleine Elsie Chapman is a New Zealand editor, journalist and author, and the current editor of The Spinoff and former editor of North & South. Chapman co-wrote the autobiography of New Zealand professional basketball player, Steven Adams, and in 2020 a biography of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.

References

  1. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  2. "Marsden - for girls Years 1-13, co-ed Preschool". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. Alington, Margaret (1 September 2010). "Esther Mary Baber - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  4. "Fitzherbert Terrace School (Wellington, N.Z.)". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Whitby School's Future". www.marsden.school.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  6. "(Isabel) Noeline Baker". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  7. "Lady June Blundell". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  8. Chapman, Madeleine (24 July 2018). "His life, his fight: Madeleine Chapman on co-writing Steven Adams' autobiography". The Spinoff . Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. "Samuel Marsden Collegiate School .::. Anne Gambrill". marsden.ultranet.school.nz. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  10. "Miranda Harcourt ONZM". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  11. "Old Girl receives Queen's Birthday honours". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  12. "Sue Kedgley". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  13. "Interview with Shirley Maddock Easther". National Library of New Zealand. January 1992. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  14. "Katherine Mansfield". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  15. "Hon. Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa". RNZ. 1 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2020.